Cradle for transport and shipment without danger of breaking brittle and precious objects

ABSTRACT

A device designed for transporting fragile and precious objects comprises a boxlike container, suspended inside which in a crossed configuration by means of their elastic extensions or stays ( 14, 14   a,    16, 16   a ) are a first, bottom, membrane ( 18 ), designed to receive the fragile object, and a second, top, membrane ( 20 ), which has the task of covering the object itself and of appropriately tensioning the first membrane so that the object is suspended elastically in a sort of cradle, formed by said two membranes, preferably equidistant from the walls of the container itself and hence protected from any impact.

The present invention relates to the sector of packaging and moreprecisely to a device designed for transporting fragile and preciousobjects comprising an anchorage constituted by two membranes set on topof one another hanging on elastic stays that fix to a container made oftransparent rigid material through slits made on the walls of thecontainer itself so as to provide a cradle, suspended within saidcontainer, in which to place one or more fragile objects, without anydanger of said objects undergoing damage due to accidental impact.

By the term “packaging” is meant any composite product made of materialsof any nature, designed to contain and protect given goods, from rawmaterials to finished products, to enable handling thereof and theirdelivery from the producer to the consumer or to the user and to ensuredisplay thereof, as well as the disposable articles used for saidpurpose.

Owing to the increased sensitivity in regard to the protection of theenvironment, today considerable importance is attributed, in thecontainment, transport, and packaging of finished products, to the useof materials that can be readily recycled in to the reduction as far aspossible of the amount of said materials. Above all in the case oftertiary packaging, i.e., packaging devised so as to facilitate handlingand transport of a certain number of units or else multiple packaging toavoid handling of the units and damage linked to transport, there is atendency to eliminate use of materials that not are biodegradable.Consider, for example, use of fillers made of plastic material such aspolystyrene balls or flakes within packages containing fragile goods soas to isolate each piece from the others and prevent any impact thatmight cause damage.

The task of the present invention is to avoid use, in the packaging offragile products, of pollutant and cumbersome materials that aremoreover difficult to dispose of, by providing a device that is compactand can be reused in the totality of its components, that will enabletransport of one or more fragile products, without danger of accidentalbreakage, isolating from any contact or impact the product/productsitself/themselves within a container thanks to an elastic suspensionsystem.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a device of the typementioned above that will be usable also as showcase once it has reachedits destination.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide a device of the typementioned above having a shape designed to enable stacking thereof onother similar devices.

The above purposes have been achieved according to the invention byproviding a boxlike container, suspended inside which are, on top of oneanother, by means of their elastic extensions or stays, a firstmembrane, designed to receive the fragile object and a second membranethat has the task of covering the object itself and of appropriatelytensioning the first membrane, by, exerting thereon a thrust downwards,so that the object is elastically suspended in a sort of “cradle”,sufficiently distant from the walls of the container itself and henceprotected from any impact.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the membranesare made of a soft elastic and resistant material and can adapt to anyshape of object enveloping it perfectly.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each membrane is provided ontwo opposite sides with at least one pair of elastic extensions or staysarranged symmetrically, and said membranes are positioned in thecontainer so that the elastic extensions or stays of the second membraneare oriented in a direction perpendicular to that of the elasticextensions or stays of the first membrane.

Preferably, each pair of elastic stays of one membrane is designed toconnect up to the other pair of stays of the same membrane after thepairs of stays of each membrane have been passed from the inside of thecontainer to the outside through corresponding slits made in the opposedwalls of the container itself.

In order to facilitate said operation, the free ends of the stays of onepair are preferably equipped with male snap-action safety closing meansto enable an easy engagement thereof in a condition of tension on thelid of the container with the female closing means provided on the freeends of the stays of the other pair.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, the elasticstays of the second membrane, which is set perpendicular to the firstmembrane, are longer than the stays of the first membrane, the slitsthrough which they must pass to come out of the container are positionedfurther down than the slits for the stays of the first membrane, and thesnap-action closing means at the ends of the elastic stays can beadjusted so that by varying the tensioning of the second membrane it ispossible to adjust the tension of the first membrane after the object tobe transported has been properly placed thereon.

In a simplified embodiment, in the case of objects of small dimensions,the extensions or stays of the supporting membrane are directlyconstrained to the walls of the container by passing the ends thereof inholes or slits made in two of the walls of the container and knottingthem to prevent them from coming out, whilst the second membrane can bereplaced by an elastic strip of adequate width that after covering theobject resting on the first membrane is tensioned by passing theopposite ends thereof through two slits made on the other two walls ofthe container at a level lower than the one at which the first membraneis located and pulling them together on the top lid so as to exert athrust downwards on the first membrane exerting thereon the righttensioning.

According to a variant of the invention, the first membrane, i.e., theone that supports the object, is equipped with a plurality of pockets orbrackets so as to be able to position a number of objects in one and thesame cradle, the length of the elastic stays being adjustable accordingto the weight of the objects supported therein.

Further advantages and characteristics of the invention will emergeclearly from the ensuing detailed description with reference to theattached drawings, which illustrate merely by way of non-limitingexample a preferred embodiment thereof. In the plates of drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container without the lid with thesupporting membrane in a working position prior to introduction of theobject to be transported;

FIG. 2 shows the same container once again without lid, with the objectset between the two membranes;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container with the lid that isblocked in position by the elastic stays of the membrane that come outof the purposely provided slits made in the container itself;

FIG. 4 shows in front elevation a transparent container with the objectsuspended in the cradle formed by the two membranes tensioned by theelastic stays, ready for being transported by hand;

FIG. 5 shows the same container whilst it being put in a large box sizedfor being shipped;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the container with the slits for passageof the elastic stays;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the supporting membrane provided with twoelastic stays provided at the ends with snap-action closing elements andwith laces or bands with Velcro to ensure adherence of the object to themembrane itself;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the second membrane with the elastic staysprovided with snap-action closing elements;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tabs at the base of the elasticstays of the first membrane for fixing the membrane to the container atthe moment when the object is introduced into the container;

FIG. 10 shows a solution alternative to that of FIG. 9, whereby the tabis replaced by a guillotine detent set in the top slits of thecontainer;

FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 show three further embodiments of a membraneequipped with pockets or brackets for positioning a number of objectssimultaneously; and

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a simplified variant of the invention, indicatedfor fragile objects of small dimensions such as sweet boxes or the like,in which the second membrane is made up of an elastic ribbon that istied in a bow on the lid of the container.

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, the device basically comprises a boxlikecontainer 12, with a press-close lid 22, a first, bottom, membrane 18,which is designed to receive the fragile object F and is provided onopposite sides with two pairs of elastic extensions or stays 14, 14 aand a second, top, membrane 20, which is also provided on opposite sideswith pairs of extensions or stays 16, 16 a. The free ends of the pairsof stays 14 and 16 are provided with snap-action safety closing means ofa male type 26, whilst the free ends of the pairs of stays 14 a and 16 aare provided with snap-action safety closing means of a female type 28.

Said membranes are preferably made of a soft elastic and resistantmaterial, such as neoprene, so as to be able to adapt to the shapes ofthe object transported enveloping it perfectly.

The first membrane 18 is mounted within the container 12 by passing onthe outside the pair of elastic stays 14, 14 a through correspondingslits 24, 25, which are made in the opposed front walls 30, 32 of thecontainer 12 itself, and engaging on the lid 22 the free ends providedwith male engagement means 26 with the free ends provided with femaleengagement means 28.

The second membrane 20 is mounted on top of the first with the samemodalities with the sole difference that the stays 16, 16 a, are passedthrough the slits 34, 36 made in the side walls 38, 40 in a directionperpendicular to that of the stays 14, 14 a, so as to envelop the objectF completely in a sort of wrapper or “cradle” that remains preferablysuspended at the centre of the container itself, and so that the tensionof the stays 16 is modified owing to the presence of adjustable male andfemale snap-action closing means. In this way, it is possible to providethe right tension on the stays 14 of the membrane 18 once the product orproducts to be packaged has/have been introduced into the container.

The container 12 can be of various sizes and shapes standardizedaccording to boxes for shipping goods, and as may be seen in thefigures, is preferably made of a transparent plastic material to enablealso visual inspection of the contents, with a press-close lid 22 which,is also transparent.

As already mentioned, the first membrane 18 can be provided with laces,elastic brackets or bands with Velcro 13, to ensure adherence of theobject to the membrane itself, as may be seen in FIG. 7.

It can moreover be provided, as may be seen in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, witha plurality of pockets 44, 46 or brackets 48 of different shapes andsizes, for placing a number of objects in one and the same container.

Finally, FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate the presence of tabs 40 projectingalong the elastic stays 14, 14 a or as an alternative to the guillotinedetents 42 in the slits 24, 26, which make possible, by blocking returnof the stays 14, 14 a, to stop temporarily in a suspended position themembrane 18 to enable introduction of the object F, before proceeding topositioning the second covering membrane 20 and to closing with the lid22.

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a variant whereby, in the presence of objectsof small dimensions, the second membrane is replaced by an elasticribbon 20 a that is tied in a bow on the lid, whilst the first membraneis constrained to the walls of the container fixing with knots the freeends of its extensions within holes 50 that replace the top slits in thewalls of the container.

From what has been said so far the advantageous characteristics of theinvention are evident, as likewise the possible uses thereof.

In particular, the device described may be used in museum and exhibitionstands, by setting each item in its “cradle” and reserving for thesmaller items the membrane equipped with multiple pockets or brackets.

The device may be used in gift or promotional packaging, personalizingthe container as regards its shapes and the use of colours andparticular conformations of the stays and/or extensions of themembranes.

Finally, the device may be used as container in all those cases wherethe product calls for particular care to prevent any damage derivingfrom an inappropriate resting position: consider in particular preciousproducts, such as truffles, where the part in contact with a rigidresting surface is likely to rot.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described herein. It ison the other hand evident that many variations and modifications may bemade by persons skilled in the branch without thereby departing from thescope of the invention, as defined by the ensuing claims.

1. A device designed for transporting fragile and previous objects,comprises comprising a boxlike container, suspended inside which in acrossed configuration by means of their elastic extensions or stays area first, bottom, membrane, designed to receive a fragile object, and asecond, top, membrane, for covering the fragile object and tensioningthe first membrane so that the fragile object is suspended elasticallyin a sort of cradle, formed by said two membranes, preferablyequidistant from the walls of the container itself and hence protectedfrom any impact.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the membranes aremade of a soft elastic and resistant material and can adapt to any shapeof object enveloping it perfectly.
 3. The device of claim 1, whereineach membrane has on opposite sides at least two elastic extensions orstays arranged symmetrically, and wherein said membranes are positionedin the container on top of one another so that the elastic stays of thesecond membrane are oriented in a direction perpendicular to that of theelastic stays of the first membrane.
 4. The device of claim 1, whereineach pair of elastic stays of one membrane is equipped with means forengaging the other pair of stays of the same membrane.
 5. The device ofclaim 4, wherein the free ends of the stays of on pair are equipped withmale snap-action safety closing means to enable easy engagement thereofin a condition of tension on the lid of the container with the femaleclosing means provided on the free ends of the stays of the other pair,after the pairs of stays of each membrane are passed from the inside ofthe container to the outside through corresponding slits made in theopposed walls of the container itself.
 6. The device as claim 1, whereinthe elastic stays of the second membrane that is positioned on top ofthe first are longer than the stays of the first membrane, and the slitsthrough which said elastic stays must pass to come out of the containerare located, in the walls of the container, at a level lower than thosefor the stays of the first membrane, so that by adjusting the tensioningof the second membrane it is possible to adjust the tension of the firstmembrane.
 7. The device as of claim 1, wherein the first membrane, isequipped with a plurality of pockets or brackets so that a number ofobjects can be positioned in one and the same cradle.
 8. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the length of the elastic stays can be adjustedaccording to the weight of the object.
 9. The device of claim 1, whereinthe container and its lid are made of transparent material to enablevisibility of the object or objects contained therein.
 10. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the extensions or the stays of the supporting membraneare directly constrained to the walls of the container by passing theends thereof in holes or slits made in two of the walls of the containerand knotting them to prevent them from coming out, whilst the secondmembrane can be replaced by an elastic strip of adequate width thatafter covering the object resting on the first membrane is tensioned bypassing the opposite ends thereof through two slits made in the othertwo walls of the container at a level lower than the one at which thefirst membrane is located and pulling them together on the top lid so asto exert a thrust downwards on the first membrane exerting a tensioningthereon.